Cold weather: Be careful of frostbite of hands and feet

In the current cold weather, you need to be careful of the risk of frostbite in your hands and feet. Frostbite is rare but can cause swelling and necrosis of the skin and limbs.

These past few days, due to the cold rain, Mr. Nguyen Van D (Hung Yen) traveled from his hometown to Hanoi for work. Because he did not wear gloves, his hands became stiff. When he returned home, his hands were red and sore, accompanied by slight numbness.

The next day, his hand turned purple, swollen and painful. He rushed to the hospital for a check-up, and the doctors said he had frostbite. Fortunately, his injury was mild, so treatment was not complicated.

Previously, the press also reported a case of limb necrosis due to frostbite. Thanh Hoa Children's Hospital treated a 5-year-old patient, Dao ethnic, in Muong Lat with both feet dark purple, swollen with symptoms of fever and pain.

According to the family, because they are poor and cannot afford to buy shoes and socks for the child in winter, during the long cold spells, the child often goes out barefoot and goes to school. When they come home at night and see that the child's feet are too cold, the family immediately soaks both feet in a basin of water at about 40 degrees Celsius.

Immediately after that, both feet gradually turned purple, blisters appeared and the pain increased. At the hospital, doctors had to amputate 5 toes on the left foot due to necrosis.

Symptoms of frostbite. Photo TL

Dr. Nguyen Thong - Head of the Burn Department (Xanh Pon Hospital) said that the Department has also received cases of frostbite. Frostbite is rare but it is no less dangerous than high temperature burns. The cause is due to a sudden or prolonged drop in temperature, the body or a body part cannot withstand this temperature, leading to frostbite.

The most common are workers who have to work in cold weather for a long time without enough warm clothes or wet clothes, cold wind... or people who work in freezers, in cold storage, carrying ice...

Compared to thermal burns, frostbite usually develops slowly. When cold, it will cause vasoconstriction, gradually causing malnutrition in the damaged areas, causing edema, skin necrosis, and pain. People exposed to cold environments for a long time and suffering from frostbite will have their body temperature lowered, leading to convulsions, coma, and even death if not treated promptly.

According to medical experts, frostbite has different levels. Level 1, the patient has skin surface damage with symptoms of itching, pain, skin color change from white to red and yellow, and disorder or loss of hot and cold sensation.

Level 2, the damaged skin area hardens. Blisters appear on the skin, becoming black and hard. This lesion may heal after 1 month or the sensation of hot and cold in the damaged area may be lost.

Level 3-4 is a severe burn level, the skin area is severely damaged, deep tissues, tendons, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, these areas turn black and filled with blood, progressing to necrosis due to malnutrition, severe cases require amputation leading to amputation of limbs.

According to Dr. Thong, with the current cold and rainy weather, the risk of frostbite is very high, especially for people living in highland areas affected by snow and rain. To avoid frostbite, on cold days, people need to wear warm clothes when going out, paying special attention to body parts that are exposed to low temperatures such as hands, feet, etc. When it rains, change wet clothes immediately to avoid catching a cold.

When there are new injuries, people need to quickly warm their hands and feet in a basin of warm water at about 37 degrees with a little salt added to dilate blood vessels. Patients should not be exposed to fire or heaters because there is a risk of more serious injuries due to dangerous double burns. If there is swelling, pain for a long time, and warming does not help, you must immediately see a doctor to avoid the condition from getting worse.

In addition, to combat the current cold, many families think of many different heating methods. There have been many cases of accidents due to the use of heaters, charcoal stoves, hot packs, etc. To avoid causing danger to yourself and your family, everyone needs to carefully learn how to use these methods.

Hot packs should not be used in patients who have lost the sensation of heat or cold because of the risk of burns. If used, they should be closely monitored or kept at a safe distance from the skin.

According to Gia dinh.net